WESLEYAN MURDER TRIAL: Emotional testimony from witnesses

MIDDLETOWN - A very emotional testimony followed the lunch recess in the trial against Stephen Morgan, accused in the 2009 shooting of a Wesleyan student.

The state called three eyewitnesses to the shooting. Susan Gerhardt, a senior at Wesleyan at the time of the shooting, took the stand. She gave her account of what happened on May 6, 2009.

Gerhardt and two friends, Barry Finder and Jenna Gordon, entered the Red and Black Café a little after noon to get lunch, and once they got to the café section, Gerhardt was sampling some pasta salad when she heard, as she describes it, a "loud popping."

She turned, saw a man wearing a dark shirt, with a red shirt sticking out underneath. Gerhardt said the man had long, dark hair, and was wearing a baseball cap. Gerhardt said after the initial "pops," the man shot three more times to where she knew Justin-Jinich had been standing.

Gerhardt said the man then turned, looked around the café, then ran toward the back exit doors. Gerhardt said she ran behind the counter and saw Justin-Jinich lying on the ground with a coworker holding her head. Justin-Jinich was still breathing, co-workers told Gerhardt. A 911 call was made, and police responded very quickly, according to Gerhardt.

Next on the stand was Finder, who was with Gerhardt in the café and gave similar testimony. State's exhibit 61 and 64 were photos taken from surveillance footage showing a man entering the store, wearing a black shirt with red underneath, long dark hair and a baseball cap. Both Gerhardt and Finder identified the man in the photograph as the man they saw shoot Justin-Jinich.

The last to testify as an eye witness was Amy Tosto, a worker at the Red and Black Café. She was working alongside Justin-Jinich, and saw Justin-Jinich being shot by a man by the same description given by the other witnesses, she said. Tosto said that between the time of the shooting and the paramedics taking Justin-Jinich out, she was not able to verbalize anything, only able to moan.

Morgan sat with his hands in his lap during the testimony Wednesday afternoon. During the part of the testimony when the shooting and subsequent events where being described, the victim's family was visibly affected, and one member left the courtroom briefly.